Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
July, x785.
"Ahahahahahahahahaha!" Cana laughed uproariously after hearing about Alfonzo, Elicia, Erza, and Marin's trip to Crocus. Especially about the night they had after killing the homunculi. "Wait, wait, wait! Are you telling me you ended up overloaded with pleasure and passed out only twenty minutes into your celebration?"
A few days have passed since the battle under Crocus took place. And in those few days, Alfonzo, Elicia, Erza, and Marin decided they would take a short break in Crocus before returning home. Though, they did not do much in that time, the time to relax was nice.
Then, as soon as they got home, they found all the residents of the mansion hanging out in the living room. And their time in Crocus was eventually brought up as a conversation topic. And around the time the story ended is when Cana's previously stated laughter began.
As she laughed, Cana constantly slammed her hand on the armrest of the couch she was sitting on.
Though not as hard as Cana, Ultear, Mirajane, Sun, and Lucy were also laughing at the story they just heard. Though, they were quite nervous when they heard about the battle with the homunculus at first.
"It wasn't that funny." Marin said with a pout and her arms crossed in front of her chest. "It was just a simple miscalculation."
"How do you make a 'miscalculation' like that?" Ultear asked while hiding her smile behind her hands. "I mean, you should know your magic better than anyone, right? How did you forget that the things you transform keep their original traits."
"Can we please stop talking about this?" Marin asked, a combination of embarrassment and resignation in her tone.
"Besides, I think there was something more important in that story, right?" Lucy asked. Though, she was still giggling at Marin's misfortune.
"You mean the wedding, right?" Sun asked, her eyes lighting up as she did so.
"That's right." Lucy replied.
"So, do you have a date yet?" Mirajane asked curiously.
With that, the atmosphere in the room changed almost immediately. Meanwhile, Alfonzo and Elicia exchanged glances.
"I think we should set it for the middle of September." Alfonzo replied.
"That's sounds good to me." Elicia replied. "We just need an exact date."
"I'll let you decide that." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "It's not like I can't free up the time whenever."
"Hmm… Let me think." Elicia said, taking on the classic thinker pose as she contemplated.
"Why so long?" Marin asked, sounding much more relaxed after she was no longer the topic of conversation.
"Well, I still have a few things to take care of with the surprise." Alfonzo replied casually. "And that should give me enough time to get them done."
"Ah, yes, that infamous surprise." Ultear said with her eyes narrowed. "That surprise that you even turned down a foursome with Erza, Marin, and Lucy to keep secret."
"Yup." Alfonzo replied with a wry smile and a nod.
"Are you sure you don't wanna tell us?" Ultear asked seductively. "If you do, I'll allow you to pleasure me tonight."
"*Sigh* She's at it again." Cana said in an exasperated tone. "Why can't she just be honest about her desire to be dominated?"
"Cana~~~~!" Ultear squealed. "Shut up~~~~!"
Once again, the living room was filled with happy laughter at another girl's expense.
"Still, Alfonzo did give us a hint about the surprise this time." Mirajane said while getting her laughter under control.
"Yeah, he said that it had to be done before the wedding." Lucy added.
"Still, that doesn't really tell us what it is." Sun replied while cutely tilting her head.
With that, the ladies, other than Elicia, who was still considering the date of the wedding, started discussing what Alfonzo's surprise could be.
'It looks like they all forgot that I said I'd take care of the venue, huh?' Alfonzo said to himself while leaking cold sweat from his back. 'If they hadn't, they would know that my surprise has something to do with that. And one of the smarter ones, like Tear, Lici, or Lucy might be able to figure it out ahead of time.'
["Yeah, it's a good thing they weren't really paying attention back then."] Bedlam said. ["It was good timing to talk about it while they were all so sexually charged."]
["Not that he was thinking so far ahead."] Riot said snappily. ["He was mostly thinking with the head between his legs that night, too."]
["I can't deny that."] Bedlam said with a shrug.
"How about September 17?" Elicia said as she came out of her contemplation.
Naturally, Elicia's declaration brought the conversation about what Alfonzo's surprise could be to an end. Then, Cana, Ultear, Erza, Mirajane, Marin, and Sun turned in Alfonzo's direction to see his reaction to the chosen date.
"Sounds good to me." Alfonzo replied with a smile. "Then, I guess we have some things to plan. WE need to figure out the size of the bridal party, who we're gonna invite, color schemes, decorations… There's so much to consider."
With that, all the girls broke into a heated debate about all the things Alfonzo just mentioned, and so much more. Meanwhile, Alfonzo felt as if he were being excluded from the conversation completely.
'It looks like the only thing I'll have any say in is the size of the bridal party and the invitations.' Alfonzo thought to himself as he watched the girls discuss so fervently. 'Oh, well, I'll just worry about filling in that big ass [Transmutation Circle] and talking to Mystogan about the plan to move the mansion to the lake."
Edolas, Edolas Continent, Royal capital.
August, x785.
After that, time passed quickly. During the next month, all of Elicia's time and effort was spent on the wedding. Meanwhile, Alfonzo did exactly what he said he would do, he went about Fiore filling up the giant [Transmutation Circle]. On top of that, many invitations to the wedding had been sent out as well.
On top of that, just as Elicia guessed, Alfonzo, after taking a quest with him, asked Alzack to be his Best Man. He also asked Laxus, Gray, and Elfman to be groomsmen. And they all accepted. However, he made sure to warn Elfman about the pain he would have to suffer if he started spouting that "real man" crap during the ceremony.
Elicia also chose her maid of honor and four bridesmaids, as well. With Cana, her best friend, as her Maid of Honor, there were a few people who were quite worried. They could only hope that Elicia's bridesmaids, Laki, Marin, Sun, and to everyone's surprise, Evergreen, could keep her in check.
Hearing that everyone thought she would need to be kept in check, Cana was visibly offended. However, when she drank nearly half a fifth of spiced rum in one go after that, everyone deadpanned at her. But Cana did promise to be sober that day. At least for the ceremony, anyway…
On a side note, Erza pouted for nearly an entire day about not being chosen as a bridesmaid. And though it's true she felt like she was close enough to Elicia to be part of the bridal party, that was not the main reason for her pouting. Instead, it was because she wanted to have one of the dresses Elicia designed for her bridesmaids in her collection.
Another thing to take note of was the fact that Alfonzo had also commissioned the masons and contractors to put the finishing touches on his project shortly after the date of the wedding was decided. And the scheduled date of completion was September 10, a week before the wedding.
But today, Alfonzo was taking a trip to talk to the last of his potential groomsmen. On top of that, he had to talk to him about making sure the whole town of Magnolia was asleep when Alfonzo placed his recreation of the Playboy Mansion in the center of Lake Sciliora the night before the wedding.
"I wonder what everyone will think when one of my groomsman is masked at the ceremony." Alfonzo said with a smile as he stepped through a single-person Anima into the airspace over the Edolas Royal Capital. "I'm almost certain there will be a bunch of people saying some shit about how rude it is."
["Do you really think so?"] Bedlam asked.
"Actually, now that I think about it, not really." Alfonzo replied after thinking for a moment. "Even though we're not as destructive as we used to be, Fairy Tail is still considered a group of ruffians by the public. So, it probably won't bother anyone all that much.
["If it weren't for that damn Jellal escaping from prison, he wouldn't even need to wear a mask, though." Riot said angrily.
As Riot said, a couple of weeks ago, it was reported that Jellal Fernandes, the traitor of the Magic Council, broke out of prison. Though, with Ultear and Meredy in Fairy Tail, Alfonzo and Elicia were unsure of who would have broken him out.
Especially since there was no chance that Junko and Himiko, who replaced Ultear and Meredy's canon versions in Grimoire Heart, would have turned over a new leaf to rid the world of evil and create Crime Sorcière. Though, they did not rule out the chance that they were the ones to break him out. Even if there was very little chance that he would join up with them.
"That's really not a big deal, though." Alfonzo replied with a shrug as he lowered himself into the city. "I mean, it's not like anyone, other than a select few, ever knew what Mystogan looked like in the first place. So, seeing him without a mask might have caused even more confusion and trouble."
["I guess you're right."] Riot grumbled. ["Still, fuck that guy for trying to sacrifice Erza to bring back Zeref."]
["Don't be so hard on the guy, Riot."] Bedlam said. ["He was being manipulated, after all."]
["You think I don't know that?"] Riot asked back angrily. ["That doesn't change the fact that I don't like the guy."]
["Whatever you say."] Bedlam replied while shrugging uncaringly.
"Anyway, it looks like we've got a welcome party." Alfonzo said, not paying attention to his [Soul Armament Spirits'] usual squabbling.
As Alfonzo said, a group of Edolas Army soldiers had gathered around Alfonzo's expected landing point, just outside the gates of the Royal Castle, and had their weapons pointed at him.
["Choosing the Royal Castle as a landing point probably wasn't the best idea."] Bedlam said, still sounding as if he did not care. ["Not that those little soldiers could stop you if you were trying to break in, though."]
"Come down to the ground immediately!" A familiar female voice shouted from the ground, drawing Alfonzo's attention. "Flying over the Royal Capital, especially over the Royal Castle is strictly forbidden. You only have one warning. Should you not comply, we are prepared to use lethal force."
Looking down in the direction of the voice, Alfonzo was not surprised when he saw a tall, well-endowed young woman with long, wavy, scarlet red hair with an elegant, loosely tied knot in the back. What did surprise him, however, was that this woman, Erza Knightwalker, was wearing a black and white maid uniform instead of her revealing bikini armor.
"Well, I wasn't expecting to see that." Alfonzo muttered as he lowered himself into the Edolas Army's encirclement. "I wonder what the deal is with the maid uniform, though."
A few moments later, Alfonzo landed on the ground. And when the soldiers recognized him, they were thoroughly surprised.
"It's you." Erza Knightwalker said with hostility in her tone as she pointed her spear, Ten Commandments, at Alfonzo. "Why... No, how have you returned?"
"It's nice to see you, too, Captain Knightwalker." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "And as for how I got here, I was the one who created the new Anima. So, of course I could make one that can let me come back."
Hearing that, Erza Knightwalker gritted her teeth while tightening the grip on her spear. Meanwhile, not paying attention to her growing frustration, Alfonzo simply looked around his surroundings.
"Either way, for breaking the laws of the kingdom, you will be captured and imprisoned before the king decides on your punishment."
"I'd rather not." Alfonzo said nonchalantly. Then, he took a deep breath before empowering his next words with his magic power. "Yo, Mystogan! I came to talk to you about something! Mind letting me in?"
With that loud shout, most of the soldiers were forced to cover their ears. At the same time, Erza gritted her teeth as she lunged forward, ready to thrust her spear.
"Take it easy, Sweetheart." Alfonzo said without even looking at Erza Knightwalker. "On top of knowing that shit won't work, you already know that I'm a friend of your king. So, there's no reason to get your panties in a twist."
As Alfonzo spoke, he used his magic to stop the incoming spear in its tracks. Meanwhile, Erza Knightwalker, who was experiencing something like this for the second time could only glare at Alfonzo in frustration.
"Stand down, Captain Knightwalker." A deep, male voice said from the direction of the castle. "I believe I already mentioned to you that Alfonzo may come here from time to time."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Erza said as she tried to retract her spear.
Unfortunately, Alfonzo had not released his magic grip, resulting in the Edolas Erza glaring at him even harder.
At the same time, Mystogan, now the king of Edolas, made his way towards the gate while being accompanied by Coco.
"Do you think you could let her have her weapon back, Alfonzo?" Mystogan asked with a wry smile.
"If you say so." Alfonzo replied with a shrug before stopping his magic. Then, he turned towards Mystogan with a wide smile on his face. "It's been a while, Mystogan. So, what did you think of my parting gift?"